Sequoia Coast i've seen finer gods than you, child, and i've swallowed them whole—

The attention she gains from him his short lived and questioned but does not incite anything further. Instead, he moves on to chomping through shells and crabs to get to the meat. She looks at her piles, scoops the two halves of a crab into her mouth, and chomps easily over their shell and in two and a half bites, it’s gone. The rest, she can probably take back in her mouth, but for now she turns back to another pool and starts again, finding a couple of mussels in the process.

After moving to another tide pool, however, she notices something out near the shore. Rhythmic waves lap at it every few seconds. Every time a bigger crest comes upon it, it moves just a little (and only by force), until a rubbery tail flops over with a final push, spat out of the sea.